Suckers. While most students are studying up for their finals this week at their local Starbucks, getting distracted by organic apple chips and hot sorority asses, I've eliminated the middle man and am sitting here, writing sixteen different papers with a pint of this new limited edition Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino ice cream courtesy of Starbucks.You might be wondering what this is made of. While I was initially of the assumption that this would contain the dregs of vapidly sipped, half-finished Frappuccinos and vapidly typed, half-written novels, it's actually a blend of strawberry and vanilla ice cream with chunks of frozen strawberries. In that sense it officially has 100% more strawberries than the strawberry frap. What gives?Despite the fact that there's no coffee in this, it's definitely got enough sugar to keep you fueled well through whatever the night may bring, keeping you awake despite late-night singalongs from the resident guitar douche, surprise RA checks to investigate the burnt popcorn smell you've been trying to cover up for the last decade, and even your partially-horny animal roommate's repetitive playing of Gotye. The pint is designed like an oversized coffee cup, or a regular sized coffee cup if you're the type of person who enjoys cups that can comfortably fit the entire contents of a wine bottle and clearly demarcates the flavor and its ensuing limited edition status. One can only hope that with the success of this ice cream, Starbucks will release a similar "limited edition" stamp that it will imprint upon the tattooed foreheads of its less popular dreadlocked barristas.

It's a pretty darn good ice cream. While I'm typically a staunch
supporter of only cacao-laced ice creams, this does a good job making
fruit less fruity and more like a milkshake, as all fruit should be. The swirl, a muted pink color, permeates the entire pint and the texture is thick and rich like most high-quality ice creams, with very little air. For me, this tastes pretty close to the original drink- heavily vanilla-influenced with a very creamy flavor and a secondary fruitiness. Strawberry lite, if you will, and although I looked very hard, I found little in the way of frozen strawberries outside of a few errant seeds.

I'm not sure where this fits into the spectrum of ice cream consumers. It seems like if you like chocolate ice cream, you typically stick to ice creams with a chocolate base. And I have the feeling that fruit-lovers will feel a little cheated at the lack of fruit chunks and diminished fruit flavor. Kids won't get the reference and likely prefer something a bit more Red Lake 14ified. I guess if you're a die-hard Starbucks lover or know someone who is, it would make a fun novelty gift.